Commission only based jobs

baggyg

Hi,

My girlfriend has been offered a commission-only based job working for a reputable company (CSOB) selling all types of insurance. This is achieved by people coming into the branch, existing customer lists and by cold-calling.

The salary is 100% commission based. There are however some caveats. A certain percentage of the money earned can be reclaimed by the company if she leaves before two years.

I was wondering if anyone has experiences of similar jobs / situations and whether it could be a good opportunity and whether the norm is that employees get a hard deal.

Any replies would be greatly appreciated.

Simon11

"The salary is 100% commission based"

That can't be 100% true. If it was a really bad month and had 0 sales, she would still be required to be paid the national minium wage.

baggyg

Is this true across the EU? The company in question is from Slovakia (part of EU and have a national minimum wage). However the description of the job would suggest it is 100% commission based exclusive of any hourly rate.

pimento

Sales jobs are 10 a penny. Why work for one like this?

scooby088

Simon11 wrote: »

"The salary is 100% commission based"

That can't be 100% true. If it was a really bad month and had 0 sales, she would still be required to be paid the national minium wage.

I would imagine that this job in self employed so would be exempt from NMW.

David_Brent

Dont let her waste time with it she would make more selling the big issue she would make pennies (literally)

Gertie_Walker

If she is employed in this country, the UK NMW would apply - it does not matter what they do in Slovakia. Are you sure this is not a company trying to avoid employment legislation by pretending staff are s/e?

Wellery82

In theory the idea can work, in practise i haven't seen it, not to say it won't.

Most sales jobs pay more money in commission than a basic salary, the idea behind a no salary would be that you receive a far better % of your commission, and so you earn more money yourself, and are incentivised to make more sales and get the company extra money, with no risk to them.

In practise however when i have known people to do simialr to this they have had very limited rewards and although a generalisation the employers have been cowboys. The roles are generally targeted to those who are beginning in sales and will struggle to generate the money they need, let alone last two years. The few people i know who did this were working ridiculous hours and selling a product that was pretty hard to sell in the first place.

I would be very cautious myself, and maybe look if there are other sales roles that could be considered. A low basic and good commission structure would be a far better option in my opinion